Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien was born on the 18th of April 1963, in Brookline, Massachusetts. His father Thomas Francis O'Brien worked as a physician and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. His mother Ruth O'Brien served as an attorney and partner at the Boston firm Ropes & Gray. He grew up with three brothers and two sisters in an Irish Catholic family. O'Brien attended Brookline High School where he managed the school newspaper called The Sagamore. During his senior year he won the National Council of Teachers of English writing contest with his short story To Bury the Living. After graduating as valedictorian in 1981 he entered Harvard University. He lived in Holworthy Hall during his first year with future businessman Luis Ubiñas. In Mather House during his upper-class years he majored in history and literature. He graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1985. His senior thesis examined children as symbols in works by William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor.
After graduating from Harvard O'Brien moved to Los Angeles to join the writing staff of HBO's sketch comedy series Not Necessarily the News. He worked there for two seasons before taking improvisation classes with Cynthia Szigeti and The Groundlings. His next job was on the short-lived The Wilton North Report. In January 1988 Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels hired O'Brien as a writer. During his three years on SNL he wrote recurring sketches like Mr. Short-Term memory and The Girl Watchers. The latter was first performed by Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz. While on a writers' strike following the 1987, 88 season O'Brien put on an improvisational comedy revue in Chicago called Happy Happy Good Show. He briefly shared an apartment with Jeff Garlin near Wrigley Field. In 1989 O'Brien and fellow SNL writers received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. He occasionally appeared as an extra in sketches including a notable doorman appearance when Tom Hanks was inducted into the SNL Five-Timers Club in 1990. O'Brien and Robert Smigel wrote the television pilot for Lookwell starring Adam West which aired on NBC in 1991.
Late Night with Conan O'Brien premiered on the 13th of September 1993 from Studio 6A at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City to unfavorable reviews. Critics attacked O'Brien suggesting he resume his previous identity as Conan O'Blivion. Tom Shales of The Washington Post claimed critics viewed him as too smart and too East Coast. At one low point in 1994 NBC threatened to put him on a week-to-week contract. Interns filled empty seats while affiliates began to inquire about replacement hosts. A turning point came during David Letterman's February 1994 appearance. It was a morale boost said O'Brien. The show slowly acquired commercial and critical success over time. Sketches grew in popularity including If They Mated and Desk Drive. One famous remote involved O'Brien visiting a historic Civil War-era baseball league. His audience largely young and male grew steadily and the show began to best competitors in ratings. In 2007 O'Brien and the Late Night writing team won the Emmy Award for Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Series. By 2006 the show consistently attracted an audience averaging about 2.5 million viewers.
As part of a new contract negotiated with NBC in 2004 the network decided that O'Brien would take over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno in 2009. On the 1st of June 2009 Will Ferrell became Conan's first Tonight Show guest on the couch. Pearl Jam appeared as his first musical guest. O'Brien acquired the nickname Coco after its use in the first Twitter Tracker sketch during the second episode of his Tonight Show run. By November 2009 ratings for O'Brien's The Tonight Show declined by around 2 million viewers since the previous year when Leno was host. On the 7th of January 2010 NBC executive Jeff Zucker met with Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien to discuss how to move Leno out of prime time. It was proposed that O'Brien would remain as host while Leno hosted a 30-minute show at 11:35 pm. Three days later NBC Universal Television Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin confirmed that The Jay Leno Show would be moved to 11:35 pm following NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Sources familiar with the situation stated that O'Brien was unhappy and disappointed with NBC's plan. On January 12 O'Brien released a statement saying delaying The Tonight Show into the next day would seriously damage what he considered to be the greatest franchise in broadcasting history. On the 21st of January 2010 it was announced that O'Brien had reached a deal with NBC that would see him exit The Tonight Show the next day.
The day his live tour began O'Brien announced that he would host a new show on cable station TBS. The show Conan debuted on the 8th of November 2010 and aired Monday through Thursday at 11:00 pm ET/10:00 pm CT. In February 2015 following the onset of the Cuban thaw O'Brien became the first American television personality to film in Cuba for more than half a century. He then visited Armenia where he featured his assistant Sona Movsesian who is Armenian American. While visiting O'Brien guest-starred as a gangster on an Armenian soap opera. In April 2016 O'Brien visited South Korea in response to a fan letter urging him to visit. His visit included a trip to the Korean Demilitarized Zone which resulted in O'Brien and Steven Yeun also visiting North Korea on a technicality by stepping across the border line at the DMZ. These remotes were later branded Conan Without Borders and became part of their own series. O'Brien eventually traveled to thirteen countries in total. The international shows won an Emmy in 2018. They became available on Netflix before moving to HBO Max. TBS extended the show through 2018 in 2014 and through 2022 in 2017.
In 2018 O'Brien's production company Team Coco partnered with Earwolf to launch his own weekly podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. The podcast debuted the 18th of November 2018 with Will Ferrell as the first guest. Guests have included Barack and Michelle Obama Stephen Colbert and Bob Newhart among others. Deadline Hollywood reported that as of August 2021 the podcast had been downloaded over 250 million times and was averaging more than 9 million downloads per month. In May 2022 O'Brien's podcast as well as the entire Team Coco digital media business was sold to SiriusXM for $150 million. This sale included all other Team Coco podcasts including Inside Conan and Parks and Recollection. On the 18th of April 2024 HBO released a four-episode international travel series titled Conan O'Brien Must Go on Max to widespread critical acclaim. The series featured O'Brien traveling to Norway Argentina Thailand and Ireland to meet fans whom he had previously featured via video calls in his podcast series. The show was renewed for a second season of six episodes in May 2024. To promote the first season's release O'Brien appeared on the interview show Hot Ones where guests eat increasingly spicy chicken wings.
In January 2025 it was announced that O'Brien would be the 2025 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He received the award on March 23 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. The recording of the presentation later garnered him an Emmy in 2025 for Outstanding Variety Special Pre-Recorded. O'Brien was named one of Times 100 Most Influential People in 2010. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2025. With the retirement of David Letterman on the 20th of May 2015 O'Brien became the longest-working late-night talk show host active in the United States. This active streak ended with O'Brien's retirement from late-night television in June 2021. His entire run as a late-night host lasted nearly 30 years. On the 2nd of March 2025 O'Brien hosted the 97th Academy Awards for the first time. He received wide acclaim for his performance with the ceremony achieving its best U.S. television ratings in five years. The Academy announced just two weeks later that he would return to host the 98th Academy Awards.
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Common questions
When and where was Conan O'Brien born?
Conan Christopher O'Brien was born on the 18th of April 1963, in Brookline, Massachusetts. His father Thomas Francis O'Brien worked as a physician and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
What education did Conan O'Brien receive before his comedy career?
O'Brien graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and literature in 1985. He attended Brookline High School where he managed The Sagamore newspaper and won a National Council of Teachers of English writing contest during his senior year.
How long did Conan O'Brien host Late Night with Conan O'Brien?
Late Night with Conan O'Brien premiered on the 13th of September 1993 and ran until 2009 when it moved to The Tonight Show. By 2006 the show consistently attracted an audience averaging about 2.5 million viewers and won an Emmy Award for Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Series in 2007.
Why did Conan O'Brien leave The Tonight Show in 2010?
NBC executive Jeff Zucker met with Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien on the 7th of January 2010 to discuss moving Leno out of prime time following the 2010 Winter Olympics coverage. On the 21st of January 2010 it was announced that O'Brien had reached a deal with NBC that would see him exit The Tonight Show the next day due to disagreements over the schedule change.
What international travel series did Conan O'Brien create after leaving late-night television?
Conan Without Borders became part of their own series featuring remotes from thirteen countries including Cuba, Armenia, South Korea, North Korea, Norway, Argentina, Thailand, and Ireland. HBO released a four-episode international travel series titled Conan O'Brien Must Go on Max on the 18th of April 2024 which was renewed for a second season in May 2024.
When did Conan O'Brien retire from hosting late-night shows and what awards has he received recently?
O'Brien retired from late-night television in June 2021 ending an active streak that lasted nearly 30 years. He received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on March 23 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. and hosted the 97th Academy Awards on the 2nd of March 2025.